Bushwhacked: Part 1
This weekend I did something very Tyler Harlan-esque. While there weren't any blizzards, I did basically bushwhack my way to the top of Weihai's highest mountain with some Chinese strangers.
It all started last Thursday when I was at a large barbecue attended by lots of unfamiliar Chinese people. I was using as much of my limited Chinese as I could, and somehow I found myself invited to climb Weihai's highest peak this weekend with a Chinese guy I had never met. Now, being from China and having had at least two beers already, he was pretty drunk, so I thought it was fairly likely that he wouldn't even remember me by the next morning. But on Saturday morning, just as promised, I received a call saying that he was waiting for me outside of the main university gate. After a long ride in his car and after meeting up with ten other Chinese people (it turned out to be a little less sketchy than I was hoping for, but just barely), we found our way to base camp, which I think we decided on when we couldn't drive any further. For the first part of the trek we were on a "trail" that looked as though it gets maybe five hikers a month, i.e., it was pretty rough and we hiked most of the time through bush/foliage that was at least chest-high but was usually higher than our heads. Luckily I had grabbed a pair of wind-pants at the last minute (again, I was under-prepared), which are at this point virtually unwearable in public, thanks to all of the rips and stains acquired while hiking. Though I made it through with only a few bug bites, I was reminded that perhaps all those shots I got before coming here were perhaps useful. I did consume quite a lot of spiderwebs, however, and I constantly found myself staring straight at huge bugs and spiders.
For the second half of the hike or so, we seemed to be forging our own trail. Because the trail reappeared again near the top, I'm guessing we were just lost for about half of the hike. Anyhow, this half basically consisted of the people in front of the group bushwhacking a path for those behind them; no machetes were involved, but any loose, long, skinny objects were subject to being employed: sticks, hiking poles, small babies, etc.
Base Camp:
Bushwhacking:
One of many huge spiders:
Dinner:
It all started last Thursday when I was at a large barbecue attended by lots of unfamiliar Chinese people. I was using as much of my limited Chinese as I could, and somehow I found myself invited to climb Weihai's highest peak this weekend with a Chinese guy I had never met. Now, being from China and having had at least two beers already, he was pretty drunk, so I thought it was fairly likely that he wouldn't even remember me by the next morning. But on Saturday morning, just as promised, I received a call saying that he was waiting for me outside of the main university gate. After a long ride in his car and after meeting up with ten other Chinese people (it turned out to be a little less sketchy than I was hoping for, but just barely), we found our way to base camp, which I think we decided on when we couldn't drive any further. For the first part of the trek we were on a "trail" that looked as though it gets maybe five hikers a month, i.e., it was pretty rough and we hiked most of the time through bush/foliage that was at least chest-high but was usually higher than our heads. Luckily I had grabbed a pair of wind-pants at the last minute (again, I was under-prepared), which are at this point virtually unwearable in public, thanks to all of the rips and stains acquired while hiking. Though I made it through with only a few bug bites, I was reminded that perhaps all those shots I got before coming here were perhaps useful. I did consume quite a lot of spiderwebs, however, and I constantly found myself staring straight at huge bugs and spiders.
For the second half of the hike or so, we seemed to be forging our own trail. Because the trail reappeared again near the top, I'm guessing we were just lost for about half of the hike. Anyhow, this half basically consisted of the people in front of the group bushwhacking a path for those behind them; no machetes were involved, but any loose, long, skinny objects were subject to being employed: sticks, hiking poles, small babies, etc.
Base Camp:
Bushwhacking:
One of many huge spiders:
Dinner:
posted by Mysteries of The Orient at 9:12 PM
2 Comments:
I googled your friend Tyler Harlan in order to gain a deeper understanding of your reference to him, but it didn't help much. I have really enjoyed reading about all of your adventures and am glad that I made the cut. I hope that you are published one day, so that I may steal a little glory as an influencial part of your life(smile). Please note: I do not use punctuation marks to indicate a smile. I find it a little too cutsie for me. As I have just used the word cutsie, it must be time for me to go have another cup of coffee. I can't wait for Part 2. - Claudia
It's fun to read about; however I'm very glad I didn't come.
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